When
I pray the Daily Office, I sometimes supplement it with the collects from the
Medieval English Sarum Rite. The
collect for today, Ember Friday, struck me as especially timely (Pearson’s
translation from the Latin):
Grant, we beseech Thee, Merciful God, that when Thy Church is gathered
together by Thy Holy Spirit, she may in no manner be hurt by the assaults of
her enemies. Through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
I
doubt that most who prayed this in Medieval England feared enemies actually breaking
into church and attacking those worshipping (although that did happen – ask Thomas
Becket and King Henry VI, whose obit was on Monday the 21st). But in too many areas of the world
today, particularly countries like Nigeria with mixed populations of Christians
and Muslims, this is a real and present danger.
Let
us indeed pray for those who have the courage to worship the Lord and go to
church when and where those are dangerous acts.
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